Pieces of Eight
by Q Illespont
Summary: A day in Kagura's life. The last story in the arc that started in 'Lady and the Tiger'.


PIECES OF EIGHT

Copyright 2005

Written by Q Illespont

Disclaimer: all characters depicted here are property of their respective owners.

This story takes place after 'To Protect and Serve', although no knowledge of that story is required. It's not a bad read, though.

I grinned as the alarm clock rang. Looking over, I saw it was 6:00. Time to get up for another day!

I hopped out of bed and started getting into my wakeup routines. Situps, pushups, and a quick shower, and now I was ready for whatever I had to do for the day. I picked up my PDA once I was dried off enough, letting my hair settle into its usual spikes. I kept it short for convenience, and I just liked the style. I always thought it gave me a harsh, tough look. Sakaki and Yomi had the sleek womanly thing going on, and Chiyo was so damn cute with her pigtails. Osaka's looked..well, kind'a mature, if you got past the part where she had that silly grin on her face all the time. Tomo..hah.

Anyway, enough about hairstyle. Besides, this kind of hair fit better under those swimming caps they had us using. Hydrodynamic advantage, they said. Still, if that's what it took to eke out another hundredth of a second, then all right. Better than some of these folks, they try shaving just about everything. Anything that'd stick out and cause drag has to go, to them. At least I'm not that obsessive about molding my body to some stupid ideal like that.

I still whip 'em, too.

I looked through the schedule for the day, and groaned. Another photo shoot, more sponsorship crap. It pays the bills, it keeps things going, but it gets in the way of things. And that means I have to pack working out and training into narrower time slots. I can't fall behind, you know.

I got dressed in a decent track suit, and started jogging. Might as well combine a run with getting to the studio. I wondered if Kasumi--that's my agent--ever considered letting me not earn some cash for a few days, just let me do what I do best. This was about the first time I've had a good outdoor jog.

It was pretty good out here, too. Birds were chirping happily, the weather was great, just a hint of the coming spring as the wind tried rearranging my hair. I stepped outside of my gate, and looked over my house. Just as big as Chiyo's place. Well, it was really her parents' home, but it always felt more like Chiyo's. Even after she got herself a new place. She said she needed one here, and one back in the States. Must be nice to be that rich, I thought.

Then I chuckled. Thanks to Kasumi, I was that rich. In fact, this wasn't my only home, either. I had a great apartment in Hokkaido, for when I'd take training trips up there, and I could find just about anyplace to stay. Between my winnings from the meets, and the endorsement deals Kasumi managed to dig up, I definitely wasn't wanting for money. And now kids everywhere--not just here, I've actually got a few fans in Korea, a bunch scattered in America, and even a few in Sweden!--wanted to be me, the great Kagura.

I loved going by just my family name. Especially when I hear Americans saying it, it sounded tough. They thought it does, too, and often the ad agency I'm hooked up with would put it in bold Roman letters across some of my meaner poses for these promotional pieces.

The ad agency ... damn! I was running late!

I started running faster. Not the healthy workout jog, the oh-crap-I-gotta-get-there dash. Tokyo started waking up around me, and soon the sounds of commuters and salarymen (and women) soon drowned out the birds and the whatevers that greeted me when I left my house. I passed a bunch of flowers, knocking a few petals off on my arm as I ran past.

I made it in time. Kasumi greeted me there. Nice girl, hair done up like Kaorin's was in school. Gotta get my mind off hairdos. Besides, anyone suckered in would find there's a steel trap in there. They'd definitely find my leg--she snared me by underbidding half of the agents in Japan, and painting the other half as useless incompetents that'd have me doing low-grade porn to live off of in three years. I figured I'd save a few yen and get her. Turns out she gave herself half the cut of a typical agent..then went out of her way to make sure she had a hell of a lot to get that cut from. The house, the apartment, the training camp I've got set up there, they're all her doing.

This stupid photo shoot was, too. We had to pay for all that stuff somehow, and this was it. This time it was a major brewery. I looked at the name, and tried working my mouth around the name. 'An. Hyoo. Ser. Bus. Ch.'

'Anheuser-Busch,' she said. Her English was as good as Chiyo's. Mine's still laughably thick. 'We're doing a cross-promotional series, what with how NASCAR's been getting more popular over here.'

'So what kind of swimsuit am I going to pose in?'

'None.' She chuckled at my reaction. They almost always went with something tight and snug, the better to show me off they said. 'This's cross promotion, Kagura, so we got the most famous athlete in the country and one of their big shots, and we're doing a crossover.'

'Allright,' I said, and shrugged. 'So what's she do?'

Kasumi handed me some kind of weird jumpsuit. It was red, and had 'Bud' written across it in fancy English. There were a bunch of other companies all over the thing, and on the back there was a website, and my name written in block English letters. 'It's not a she, silly. By the way, we did have to improvise for his outfit. Seems you didn't have anything that'd fit, of course.'

I tuned her out as I went over to change. A new campaign meant a lot of photos, and a long time under the lights. Might as well get it out of the way sooner rather than later.

I let out a relieved sigh as the crew finally wrapped up. 'Thank you,' they kept chirping as they put away their equipment. Kasumi fussed after them, ready to pounce on the first proofs, or galleys, or negatives, or whatever. The American I was shooting with was nice enough, and kind'a cute in the Speedos they got up for him. He liked how I looked in the racing suit, too--fair enough, he wore a swimsuit for this--and tried asking me if I liked car racing. I shrugged, and mumbled that I'd give it a shot sometime. Seems more like something Yukari'd love, anyway. Still, I can see why all the Americans liked him. He said he had to go back and test his car, so I waved and went back to the changing area.

And right on past. Kasumi quickly ran over to me--how'd she get so fast? 'Hey, Kagura, where're you going?'

'Home. I want to get some good exercise in for that meet in a month, you know. Remember, sports? The thing I'm supposed to be known for, and not beer?'

'In that?'

I looked at my suit. 'Might as well.'

Kasumi sighed. 'At least let me get you a car. You know how late it is?'

I looked at the clock on the wall. '6:00, already?' The shoot took all day. I remembered eating something at lunch, but still, a whole day spent getting my face shot. 'Is it worth it?'

I thought I only thought that question. The shocked look on Kasumi's face told me I spoke aloud. 'Kagura ... just look at this.'

She showed me several sheets of paper. They had very large numbers on them. Some were written with dollars, most were in yen. I didn't know how much dollars-to-yen were, but those were still pretty impressive. I looked at her, and she seemed almost ... insulted? 'What's wrong, Kasumi? It's not like we're lacking in cash, are we?'

She shook her head. 'No, we're doing fine, but we could do better!' And I saw that glint in her eyes. I think that's what got my attention, why I picked her. She had the same hunger I did. Except that when I'd be running and chasing on the track and in the pool, she'd do it in the office and on the phone.

I sighed. To her, yen were the same as points. They measured whether you were the best. And she was going to be the best. 'Yeah, I understand. Just let me have some time to get myself in shape, OK? I fall apart out there, and all those numbers become nothing.'

That brought her up short, but only for a moment. 'Good point, Kagura. Go take care of yourself. Treat yourself to something, have fun, unwind.'

I nodded. 'Sure thing,' I answered, and headed for the door, only to be brought up short by Kasumi. 'What?' I asked.

'At least change first. Or do you want to be plugging this stuff all over town more than you are now?'

I chuckled. 'I'll take it off when I get home. Just get me there.'

'Right!'

The 'car' turned out to be a luxury import. I flopped in the back as the driver turned to look at me. I bet he was disappointed that the famous athlete's wearing a body-covering racing suit rather than a bikini showing off all those great curves guys want to see on me. His loss, I guess. 'Home,' I ordered, and he started driving.

'Home' naturally meant my home, not his. This was just a rental guy, just like the rental car I was sitting in. If it weren't for the name stitched on the suit, I'd guess it was a rental from that American's wardrobe. Fit nice, though it was a bit warm after a while. I turned on the air conditioning in my section and turned the radio up over the noise.

I idly looked out the window as we made our way through the streets, not paying attention to the slow end of a spring day. I wasn't really thinking about much else, until I heard an odd song across the radio. The singer had one of those weird spooky emotional voices, and I found myself listening closer than I wanted to.

'We now have everything, or so people say ... but now this emptiness haunts me everyday.

We seek the lion's share, never knowing why ... open wide, spread your wings and fly ... '

Hmm. Everything. Do I have it? Here I am sitting in the back of a limo being driven home by some faceless drone I'm throwing money at. A home that covers a lot of prime Tokyo land, too, and chock full of things, luxuries, workrooms, the works. Hell, I didn't even think about asking the studio if this lousy costume was theirs or not. I just took it with. It probably did come out of my books. Either that, or my company. I've got one of those set up, too, on advice from Chiyo the last time I saw her in the States. Now Kasumi's thinking about hiring her on as our main legal counsel. Never thought I'd need a lawyer that bad that I'd have to pay her all the time just to hang around, but at least it's Chiyo. Can't go wrong with that.

I listened to more of the song. This was from some idol singer from a few years ago, named Kasuga Ayumu. The name sounded familiar for some reason. I know she was a good singer, but I never really looked that hard at who she was. I figured she was just another pretty face who actually had pretty vocal cords, too.

I tried getting the attention of the flunky at the wheel. 'Hey, know some girl singer named Kasuga Ayumu?' I asked. Long shot, maybe this guy was a huge Kasuga Ayumu stalker.

'Yeah,' he answered, 'she had a bunch of hits. Kind'a weird stuff, some sad, some happy, all weird. Dunno what nutjob writes her stuff. Haven't heard a lot from her, though. Think she's gotten out of singing.'

I leaned back and thought. Kasuga Ayumu. I'm sure I've seen it before. Wait ... wasn't there someone in my class with a name like that? I think I remember a few times on day duty I'd get a glimpse of a worksheet with a name like that on it. Don't think I saw it that often. Maybe just one of the other girls in class.

I chuckled. I should've paid more attention to things when I was in school. I actually was in the same high school class as the famous Ayumu. Well, that's assuming that 'Kasuga Ayumu' isn't just a stage name, though it'd be too stupid to have a stage name just like a real name.

The refrain repeated, the message the same. I listened again, and sank back in thoughts. I know I've got a lot of what I want ... but do I have what I really need? Is this big house, big yard, great view what I really wanted out of sports and competition?

Wait. 'This' house meant we finally reached my house. I sighed and opened the door myself, not waiting for him. 'Go ahead and get back, I can show myself in,' I said. 'Thanks a lot for driving me ... um ... '

'Thank you, ma'am.' He then went back to the car and drove off. I sighed and went to the door. My faltering was because I didn't know his name at all, and didn't know how to address nameless workers. Kasumi could get someone like that to eat out of her hand, and here I don't know what to say to someone on politeness autopilot.

I got in the house, and decided exercise wasn't going to help my mood. Instead, I dug out an old CD and some leftovers from last night. The leftovers went in the microwave, the CD into the stereo. Not vice-versa. Soon another Kasuga ballad was echoing through my house, and the smell of last night's pizza wafted through until I devoured the rest of it.

That song came on again, and I thought, listening to her. Why am I still competing? Is it for the money, the fame, what? I've got everything I could want, and more. My threat to Kasumi was pretty hollow; at this point, she's socked away enough money that I could retire last year and live like this the rest of my life. Wouldn't need to marry anyone, just like this.

By myself.

That thought made me ache. It was an old ache, one I thought I'd taken care of long ago. The thought that all of this was all mine, and no-one would ever share it with me ... that got to me, at times like this. I used to be surrounded by friends, even though I was the only one of them who took clubs seriously. Then again, Chiyo had that class president thing, and Sakaki ... well, she had her own thing, and then Maya, so that took her out of the picture. Tomo I could trust on the cheerleading squad, and nowhere more serious. Yomi was way too serious. And Osaka..heh, if I asked her to join a club she'd probably ask me if it were an iron or a wood. Or something equally stupid.

I chuckled as I remembered my fellow knucklehead. Sure, we were at the bottom of the pile in most things academic, but we managed through. I still have the diploma I got from there, as well as my college diploma proclaiming me a graduate of sports education. Not that I've used that very often--even in college, I was competing. And soon I ended up going pro. That's where I met Kasumi, when I was interviewing folks.

Sakaki'd been in a similar situation, and when I'd mentioned it to everyone, she sent me a note telling me to get a good agent. I started interviewing folks after that, and Kasumi was about ninth in line. I went with her pitch, and I'm now sure I'm richer than Sakaki ended up. Then again ... Kasumi and Sakaki would NOT get along.

I sighed, remembering the times I saw Sakaki, those rare times I was in the US. She seemed so content with her show, and nothing I could say would convince her otherwise. Now, she never slacked off any way, just like in school. She just doesn't go out to prove she's best, or to make herself the best. Maybe it's better that she stays in that rather than serious sports, I guess. She's good at what she does, and I'm sure if she ended up in real competition, she'd be chewed up and spat out so fast.

The memories prompted me to go to a little display I'd set up in one spare room. On the wall was a map of Japan, and various pins and photos. That was a waste, though. Osaka, Tomo, and Yomi ended up sticking around in Tokyo, and while Sakaki, Kaorin, and Chiyo left town, they also left the hemisphere--I just had arrows from their pictures pointing east.

Each picture was updated as often as I could. Sometimes I'd get one, sometimes not. Tomo's latest was her standing proud in a cop uniform, Yomi looked serious in a banking suit. Kaorin and Sakaki stood next to each other (saved me the trouble of one more line), dressed kind'a normally. Think that one was after they'd moved out there. Chiyo's was more recent, and had her hair done in one ponytail now. And ... Osaka's picture was the same as from high school. She just always sent a note saying 'Nothing's changed, I'm still in Chiyo's group,' and left it at that.

Kaorin and Sakaki? I knew they were together. They'd not really kept it secret from us, either. Especially when I caught them smooching when I was in Boston that time. Man, that was awkward! There they were, and I just stared at them until Sakaki finally saw me there, and she went from loving kiss to stone statue in about two seconds flat. Then Kaorin saw me, and she tried stammering out something. I couldn't make it out, and obviously she couldn't figure it out either.

Together, huh. Two down, five to go, I guess. Well, three. I'm pretty sure Tomo and Yomi've been snuggling since they were in middle school. Only reason I can think of for them to stay together after all the crap Tomo's pulled. It tok me all of five minutes to end up in a fight with her, and Yomi's been there for ten years by now.

I looked around, and saw a letter on top of the table. That's right, I remembered now what I was doing. Osaka finally sent a letter that said more than 'nothing's changed' this time. This read 'Something's changed. I'm now in Chiyo's arms and snuggling.'

Now I remembered. I read this last night, and decided that it was enough and went to bed. And promptly drove it all out of my mind. I sighed, and picked the thing up, and read the rest of it.

'Chiyo finally finished her law school stuff. She's now a lawyer, imagine that! I'm sure in just a few years that Schwarzenegger Amendment will be law, and then we really can make America "Chiyo-chan's country!" She keeps saying that's still not possible, though. I'm sure it'd be a great place if she was President, though. Or maybe we could come home and she'd become Prime Minister. Or maybe both, and it'd be the United Japan of America or something!'

'United Japan of America.' How totally Osaka.

The letter continued. 'Oh, about that bed thing. We've been sleeping together for a while now. It's nice, cuddled up with her like this. She's so adorable and I want to make her feel so nice and warm, and she says it's great being like that with me. So I guess we're gonna get married once it's OK.'

I sighed and set the letter down again. So Osaka and Chiyo are dating, and it's each other. Weird, you'd think the odds would be against that many lesbians in one class. Especially in our little group!

Can't help but start thinking of the six of them. They've all got someone to hold, someone to talk to.

Someone to come home to.

I dropped back into a chair and sighed, staring at the display. They all had someone like that. I didn't. Someone to share, someone to care for, just someone. All I have is cash, fame, and no time for anything but getting more of the same.

I wonder if that's why Sakaki never went into serious sports. Maybe she knew something I didn't then, that I'd have to give up more than just most of my free time to follow this dream.

And that she'd have to put up with others. Not just folks who want to be the best, rivals. Actual enemies. Kasumi doesn't understand, she just says that I should squash them like the bugs they are. And they're the really mean ones. What happened to the days where I could beat someone and buy them a drink afterward? Now it seems like most folks care more about winning at any cost.

I sighed and looked over the wall again, and wondered what everyone was doing. Sakaki and Kaorin were probably in their love nest cuddling. Osaka and Chiyo were probably doing the same. And I'm sure Tomo was dragging Yomi all over town getting her rip-roaring drunk and doing whatever the hell they always did.

I was doing what I always did, too. I sat back in my empty home and thought to myself, 'Is this all worth it?'

I walked around, not noticing until I found myself in my office. I had a small one set up for all the dumb paperwork I had to do. Kasumi could do a lot, but she can't sign my name on things. There were various mementoes scattered around, trophies, firsts, that sort of thing. One of them stood out from the rest, though.

It was my first trophy. It wasn't my first tournament, or my first meet. I forgot how many times I tried before I started breaking through, and this was the proof of my first win. It was held in Barcelona, Spain, and I won it all. I was so thrilled I couldn't sleep for days afterward. The trophy itself was a standard wood trophy, but they included something unique. At the base, mounted in clear plastic, was an authentic old coin, a 'pieces of eight' if I have it right. Eight bits and they make up one old Spanish coin.

I sighed. There's even cash on my trophies. All I'd been doing lately were one cash-sighted scheme after another. Ads, photos, public appearances. It's like I'm trying to get a money tree or something. And it was all so much work, work now. Not work as in effort, good honest trying. Work as in just again and again, time after time, nothing new. No real soul to things.

The phone suddenly broke through. I reached and grabbed it. 'Kagura residence.'

'It's me, Kagura!' Meaning it was Kasumi talking business again. She never talked anything else. 'We've got those proofs ready, and I've got a few great sets. We sent one copy over to Dale, but you need to check as well. I can get you in at 9 tomorrow morning, OK?'

'No,' I answered.

'No?' Kasumi seemed confused. Good for her. 'What're you talking about, Kagura? You need a little more time to think about the pics?'

'No. I'm taking a day off. Just me.'

'Fine, I'll send a guy to get you and--'

I cut her off. 'No. Day off. From you, from him, from everyone. Just a day off, OK?'

Kasumi sighed over the phone. 'Sure, we can do that.' I could tell from how she said it that she was already thinking of how to tell folks, juggle, everything else. 'Go ahead and take a few, it can only do you good.'

'And Kasumi?'

'Yes?' She was cheerful again. Maybe too cheerful?

'You take a few days off, too,' I told her. I hung up before she could get any kind of response in. I'm pretty sure she was going to just tell me there was so much to do, so much she had to get going. It could wait. The money tree could go without being watered for one day, or whatever else she does.

Then again, she'd probably end up at a casino or something. Oh well, whatever it takes.

And me?

I'll let you know later. If I know then. It'll definitely be better than posing for pictures.

Maybe I'll even try that stock car racing thing, if I can find a place ...

Notes:

The title is the title of the song (and album) that inspired this fic, from Styx.

A note on Kagura's confusion in regard to Ayumu and Osaka: Kagura only joined the second year. By then, not even the official class rosters listed 'Kasuga Ayumu'--it had 'Osaka'. That, aside from closing credits, is the last time her real name comes up. No-one even tries to use it later on. And she was OK with Chiyo calling her 'Osaka' in the earlier story. So ... really, I can see poor Kagura just never knowing Ayumu's real name.


End file.
